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Guest Blog by Simon Wills - Death on the Ocean Wave in the 19th Century
In January 2015 I wrote a blog about the loss of the steamship London in 1866. It was one of the most appalling maritime disasters – of which there were only too many – in the 19th Century. (Click here...
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1810: The Heroine of Matagorda
In much historical fiction (including my own) women tend to turn up in the most extraordinary situations and bear heavy responsibilities, to an extent which may seem fanciful to many today who have the...
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The Wreck of the RMS Atlantic 1873
I continue to be amazed by the sheer number – and scale – of shipping disasters in the 19th Century and many have been described previously in this blog. It’s notable that in so many cases the...
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Day’s Submarine 1774
Sir Murray Fraser Sueter (1872 – 1960) was one of the most colourful personalities of the Royal Navy prior to and through the First World War. He is best remembered today as a pioneer of aviation – of...
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France and Prussia clash off Cuba: The Battle of Havana 1870
Single-ship actions, in which a lone ship from one navy is matched against a lone ship of the enemy’s, represent some of the most dramatic battles in naval history. The captains and crews cannot depend...
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Privateer Action in the English Channel, 1793
Probably like many others I have always thought of privateers in the Age of Fighting Sail as preying on enemy merchant shipping on commercial routes in open ocean, far from land. My perception has...
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Jean Bart – Sea Raider
The French Navy’s record through the centuries never achieved the string of memorable victories won by Britain’s Royal Navy – though one French victory, that of the Virginia Capes in 1781, was decisive...
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Protected Cruisers in the Pre-Dreadnought Era
It is always gratifying to an author to received feedback from readers, particularly when detailed research to support a story is recognised and appreciated. I was therefore delighted to be contacted...
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THE WICKEDEST PIRATE PLACE IN THE WORLD
Helen HollickFor me, Antoine Vanner, one of the most unexpected but very rewarding outcomes of publishing my first book some years ago was that it brought me into contact with a network of other...
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From Rebel to Samurai – the epic career of the Ironclad Stonewall/ Kōtetsu:...
When thinking of the ocean-going navy of the Southern Confederacy in the American Civil War the image immediately comes to mind of fast, largely unarmoured vessels such as the Alabama and the Florida,...
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The Discovery of Franz Josef Land 1873
Franz Josef in 1910 -an old man for whom so many young ones diedThe Emperor Franz Josef (1830 - 1916) of the Austro-Hungarian Empire reigned for an amazing 68 years and is probably best remembered...
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The Bellona and Courageux action 1761
Devotees of naval history and fiction will know that the “74”, the so-called Third- Rate ships of the line, were the backbone of the fleets of the major European powers in the period 1756-1815. Though...
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Dynamite Guns: Brilliant Technical Dead-Ends!
A major role is played in the Dawlish Chronicles novel Britannia’s Shark, set in 1881, by an experimental “pneumatic projector” – essentially a gun from which the projectile is launched by compressed...
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More Privateer Action: HMS Wolverine, 1799
My blog of February 10th of this year – accessible through the bar to the right – dealt with privateering action in the English Channel in 1793, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. It...
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The loss of HMS Vanguard 1875
The name HMS Vanguardis associated today with the Royal Navy’s last battleship, scrapped in 1960. An earlier Vanguard was however to meet an even more unpleasant fate, and arguably a wholly avoidable...
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HMS Guardian 1789 – an epic battle for survival
In earlier posts I mentioned discovering the wonderful 1895 “Story of the Sea”, edited by “Q” (Sir Arthus Quiller Couch, with contributions from several luminaries of the era and with splendid...
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The Farfadet Submarine Disaster 1905
Courage of the highest order was demanded of the officers and men of the navies that first employed submarines in the early twentieth centuries. Designs were still experimental and operating experience...
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The Death of the Adder 1882
It is well known that the USS Monitor, which can be argued to be the first modern warship, and which gave its name to a type of ship which would see service until the end of WW2, was lost off Cape...
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Disaster off Punta Arenas 1881
Chile’s Punta Arenas, on the Brunswick Peninsula, to the northern side of the Strait of Magellan, is probably the most southerly city in the world. It was originally established as a penal colony by...
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Adam Worth: the real-life “Napoleon of Crime”
“He’s a thief,” Topcliffe said. “A most accomplished and successful one. That’s why he’s useful to us.”“But he seemed…”“Exactly what he is. A clever, cultured, agreeable American gentleman, whose...
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